Saudi warplanes target Yemen’s Defense Ministry building in Sana’a

Saudi warplanes have conducted airstrikes on Yemen's Defense Ministry and a nearby residential building in the capital Sana’a, local sources say.

Yemen’s al-Masirah television network, citing local sources, reported that the ministry's building sustained damage in the late Friday raid, while another airstrike carried out shortly afterwards against 12 houses left at least eight people wounded.

It added that the number of casualties would likely rise due to the magnitude of the destruction.

Witnesses said that the fighter jets continued to circle in the skies above the Yemeni capital for some time after the strikes.

The aerial raids came four days after Saudi Arabia announced the closure of all land, air and sea ports in Yemen. Riyadh's decision was made after Yemeni forces, backed by popular Houthi Ansarullah fighters, launched a Borkan H2 long-range missile at King Khalid International Airport in northeastern Riyadh late on Saturday.

Since March 2015, the Saudi regime has been heavily bombarding Yemen as part of a brutal campaign against its impoverished southern neighbor in an attempt to reinstall Yemen’s former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, which is in control of large parts of Yemen, including the capital. The Saudi campaign, however, has failed to achieve its goals.

Over the past two years, the Houthis have been running state affairs and defending Yemeni people against the Saudi aggression.

Latest figures show that the war has so far killed over 12,000 Yemenis and wounded thousands more. The military campaign has also taken a heavy toll on the country's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.